REVIEW: Preacher – “He Gone”

The following is a quick recap/review of the seventh episode of ‘Preacher’, available on AMC in the United States and on Viaplay in Denmark. Expect spoilers for the episode.

In the seventh episode of the first season of Preacher (“He Gone”), Cassidy and Tulip (played by Joseph Gilgun and Ruth Negga, respectively) both confront Jesse (played by Dominic Cooper). Odin Quincannon (played by Jackie Earle Haley) returns to tell our preacher of his intentions. And, in flashback, it is finally revealed why Jesse feels that he needs to be the preacher of Annville.

Let’s talk about the flashbacks first, ’cause we really got something interesting this time around. No, we didn’t see the weird western cowboy this time around. They were just simple flashbacks to Jesse and Tulip as children. After his father sends Tulip away, Jesse prays for his father to die and go to hell. Not long thereafter, his prayers are answered.

I really enjoyed the flashbacks this week, even if they weren’t executed all that well. Jesse’s dad (played by Nathan Darrow) is great, and I’ll always enjoy seeing Darrow on great shows. But young Jesse really hurt the flashbacks. The young actor didn’t do a good job here, and his freak out when Tulip is sent away was really not done well. But the episode, as a whole, was pretty solid.

I like the reveal of how Cassidy witnessed what Jesse did to Eugene, and I think they handled Eugene’s sudden disappearance well. The shots of Eugene’s empty room were great. Seeing the Sheriff all alone in the church was solid. And while we didn’t see Eugene in the episode, or get to know if he actually is in hell, it was addressed a lot. Jesse did something really wrong, and Cassidy desperately wants him to try to help Eugene in whatever way he can.

Now, I’m not the biggest fan of the whole love triangle thing the writers are going for this season. I love Cassidy, Tulip, and Jesse, but the conversation between Tulip and Cassidy, which led to Cassidy wanting to tell Jesse everything, didn’t quite work for me. What did work for me, was seeing Cassidy being the only person in-the-know, as it were. He knows every secret, and he’s trying to find out if he needs to tell anyone anything. A real tightrope walk for everyone’s favorite vampire.

My favorite scene in the episode was the dinner-sequence. Cassidy complains about the Coen brothers, Tulip tried to make something in the oven only to see it burn, the Sheriff interrupts, Jesse sits in silence, and Emily, of all people, lies to the Sheriff.

The scene, of course, leads to another bombshell moment. A desperate Cassidy forces Jesse into action by walking into the sun and letting himself burn. Did he help him? We don’t really find out in the episode. This show really loves its cliffhangers, and, boy, does this episode end on an intriguing one.

Earlier in the episode, we had seen Odin Quincannon stop by and proclaim that while he’s serving God, that doesn’t make him a Christian. This once again highlights the problem with Genesis. It doesn’t always work as you intended. Quincannon wants the land that the Church stands on. And as Jesse desperately screams for Eugene to come back, Quincannon is on his way to tear down the Church.